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News about the sequester has been reduced to noisy static for many of us. Below, Shaun Spearmon discusses the dangers of “crisis fatigue” for our country, as well as for our own organizations.

Here we go again. Once more, we find ourselves on the eve of another crisis manufactured by our elected leaders in Washington, D.C. Only this time, the majority of us aren't buying it. According to a recent Pew Research poll, 55 percent of Americans either have no opinion on the looming sequester or would rather let automatic spending cuts go into effect. Translation: After a series of fiscal crises where last-minute “solutions” score political points rather than address long-term challenges, the American people are over it.

Although both Democrats and Republicans acknowledge how asinine the sequester is, the March 1 deadline will come and go, and you and I will be stuck with the consequences – whatever they are. This is an outcome that most of us are willing to accept because we’re all tapped out, suffering from "crisis fatigue." With a new crisis every 60 to 90 days, our sense of urgency has waned and our confidence in our leaders has been severely diminished.

Throughout the years, one of Aesop’s most famous fables, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, has taught children the consequence of leadership by manufactured crisis. After urgently responding to a shepherd boy’s numerous unwarranted cries for help, the villagers ignore the legitimate (and ultimately fatal) cry when help is actually needed. This is a lesson easily unlearned as we mature. And although the spotlight is on the politicians in Washington, D.C. this week, business leaders can be just as guilty of inflicting crisis fatigue on their people.

In business, leaders incessantly go to the crisis well to motivate and inspire action. Some managers use the panic button daily to inspire immediate action from their people because they’ve failed to adequately plan, budget, or schedule. Then there’s the “crisis Hail Mary,” typically belted out when an organization’s demise is inevitable because of leadership failure. Ever heard this cry from the boss? “We’re losing market share, our stock is plummeting, and our independence is at risk. We need to innovate now or else…” Being a takeover target is a cause for legitimate concern and a cry for help from on high likely instills a sense of urgency the first two or three times it’s used. It is the fourth, fifth and sixth time when people, like the villagers, lose interest.

The impact of crisis fatigue on an organization can be catastrophic – just think about those poor sheep. Trust is the very first thing to go when leaders habitually lead via crisis. And trust fuels the engine that produces the speed businesses require to outperform the competition. It's trust that is the foundation of any prosperous relationship, as well as a leader’s greatest asset that appreciates slowly, but depreciates instantly when exploited.

However, the greatest consequence of crisis fatigue is not the sacrifice of trust; rather, it's the inability to capitalize on key opportunities that lie therein. Finding opportunity in a crisis is certainly a tactic leaders can and should use to increase a true sense of urgency in their people. Just imagine that if, instead of repeatedly misrepresenting the wolf threat, the little shepherd boy used the crisis as an opportunity to galvanize support among the villagers to modernize the security system. What if he worked with them to address the root cause of the issue and seized the opportunity to permanently ensure the flock’s long-term safety?

The irony of the wolf situation, the sequester, and any crisis in your organization, is that both the threat and the opportunities associated with them are very real. Unfortunately, so is the fatigue we experience when leaders relish in crisis. We check-out, lose interest, and put both our ability to avoid hazards and to capitalize on opportunities at risk.

If you weren’t paying attention to the sequestration debacle, never fear, we’ve got at least two more fiscal crises on deck in April and May. That’s two more opportunities to feel the ills of crisis fatigue and the leadership void created by it. We know what ultimately happened to the sheep when the boy cried wolf. Your organization is counting on you to relearn the lesson.

Shaun Spearmon is an engagement leader at Kotter International (KotterInternational.com), a firm that helps leaders accelerate strategy implementation in their organizations.John Kotter is the chief innovation officer at Kotter International and is the Konosuke Matsushita Professor of Leadership, Emeritus, at Harvard Business School.

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For more about how organizations can develop the agility required to succeed in today’s rapidly changing world, read Dr. Kotter’s new article, “Accelerate!” featured in the November issue of Harvard Business Review.